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Various drug investigations net six arrests

Six men were arrested during separate narcotics investigations in Chicago and the suburbs this week that netted more than $2 million altogether in cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine, Chicago police said today.

Chicago police assigned to the narcotics division executed a search warrant shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday in west suburban Countryside, where they discovered more than 100 marijuana plants inside a residence in the 9600 block of West 56th Street, they said, adding that the marijuana has an estimated street value of over $400,000.

Agron Batovski, 38, of the same address was charged with a felony count of producing cannabis plants.

Meanwhile, officers also found more than $48,000 worth of cocaine along with methamphetamine, valued at nearly $2,000, after arresting another man Thursday during a separate narcotics investigation on Chicago's Northwest Side.

Arrested in the 2600 block of North Lavergne Avenue in connection with that seizure was Mario Lua Guizar, 38, of the 5000 block of West Schubert Avenue, police said. He was charged with cocaine possession and methamphetamine possession.

In two separate investigations, police said, Narcotics division officers arrested four men Wednesday on the Southwest Side and in south suburban Hazel Crest. Those probes resulted in cocaine and cannabis seizures with a combined estimated value of more than $1.5 million.

Officers were conducting surveillance late Wednesday afternoon at a far south suburban location when they saw two men exit a vehicle and enter a sport-utility vehicle, police said. The men drove to a residence in the 3500 block of West 194th Street in south suburban Homewood, where they backed the SUV inside a garage.

One of the men entered the residence and returned with a large container before both men drove away in the SUV from the location, police said.

Officers conducted a traffic stop in the 17500 block of Kedzie Avenue in south suburban Hazel Crest, where a dog discovered narcotics inside the vehicle, police said. Several bricks of cocaine were found inside it along with several bales of cannabis, police said, altogether totaling an estimated street value of more than $1 million.

Charged with cannabis trafficking and possession of cocaine in that seizure are Ivan Hernandez, 28, of Victorville, Calif. and Miguel Vega, 35, of Lynwood, Calif.

In another narcotics investigation late Wednesday afternoon, two men were arrested on Chicago's Southwest Side in connection with the discovery of what police said was estimated to be more than $500,000 in cocaine. A weapon and approximately $89,000 in cash also were confiscated, police said.

The men were seen transferring a container between a residence and a vehicle on separate occasions, police said. Officers approached the men and discovered they were transporting cocaine inside a container that was stored inside the vehicle, police said.

Charged with possession of cocaine were Moses Valencia, 27, and Jose Mendoza, 43, both of Yakima, Wash.